This invention relates to hoppers configured to store therein articles to be weighed including foodstuffs and discharge the articles, and a combination scale equipped with the hoppers.
Conventionally, combination scales are structurally characterized as described below. The combination scale receives articles to be weighed, and a dispersing feeder radially disperses and delivers the received articles. The dispersed articles are delivered linearly outward by a plurality of linear feeders disposed around the dispersing feeder. The articles delivered by the linear feeders are thrown into a plurality of feeding hoppers facing delivering ends of the linear feeders. The feeding hoppers temporarily store therein the articles and then open their gates to feed the articles into a plurality of weighing hoppers disposed therebelow. The combination scale executes combinatorial computations to select a combination of weighing hoppers containing the variously combined articles of a total weight that falls within a predetermined range of weights. Then, the combination scale opens the gates of the weighing hoppers selected by the combinatorial computations to discharge the articles into, for example, collecting chutes, and then, finally into a packaging machine installed down below.
JP 2003-155096 describes a known example of the hoppers including the feeding hoppers used in such a combination scale. The patent literature 1 further describes that fulcrum bolts for pivotably supporting both sides of a gate are screwed, through bearing bushes, into internally threaded bosses fixed to outer side surfaces of a hopper body.